The author studies the concept of plasma relaxation by magnetic reconnection which has been applied to many laboratory plasmas, but whose origin lies in observations on the Toroidal Pinch. This is one of the simplest of plasma confinement systems. In essence, it involves only a toroidal vessel in which a toroidal magnetic field B0 is first created by external coils then, after a suitable ionizing process, a toroidal current I is induced. It is this current which is responsible for plasma heating, compression, and confinement.